Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 43: Another coup in France (Seeking follow-up reading)

It was mid-March 1870 when Primo finished the finishing work and led his army back to Madrid.

This civil war in Spain did not attract much attention from the great powers because in the north of Spain, the war between the Kingdom of Prussia and the French Empire was already coming to an end.

Carlo was also following the war between the two major European powers.

French Emperor Napoleon III taught Carlo a truth with his own and France's future destiny, that is, it is best not to micro-manage the war on the front line, but to trust the generals and soldiers under his command.

Before the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, if one had told any senior European official that Prussia would win the war with France, they would probably have been met with contempt and ridicule.

Why? Because France was still enjoying the afterglow of the Napoleonic Empire. The empire created by Napoleon III was still the most powerful army overlord in the entire European continent.

Judging from the strength on paper, the Prussian army should have no reason to defeat the French army.

But the powerful Second French Empire failed so decisively. It was defeated by the large number of line infantry that admired Napoleon's afterglow too much, by the constant micro-management of the quite confident Napoleon III, and by the insufficient preparations in the early stages of the war. The senior commanders did not have a very thorough plan and response to the war.

On March 1870, 3, news that shocked the world was born.

Napoleon III, the emperor of the Second French Empire and nephew of Napoleon, who was feared throughout Europe, formally announced his surrender to the Prussian army.

The once powerful French Empire was defeated, which was something that no European country had expected.

The defeat of France will inevitably lead to a series of changes in the policies of European countries, and the importance attached to Prussia will be infinitely increased.

But what no one expected was that before their foreign policy had changed, the French once again made big news.

On March 1870, 3, three days after Napoleon III announced his surrender, a coup broke out in Paris, France. Taking advantage of the fact that the army and the emperor were on the front line, the imperial government was overthrown and the French Third Republic was established.

Now it was Prussia and Bismarck's turn to be dumbfounded.

The Prussian army had just captured Napoleon III and was planning to use Napoleon III to make demands on the French government for a large amount of compensation and land.

But unexpectedly, the French launched a coup and established a republican government, and Napoleon III lost his effectiveness in just a few days.

In other words, Europeans are not very familiar with the history of the Ming Dynasty, otherwise Bismarck would have exclaimed, isn't this the script of the Emperor of the Gate?

Of course, compared to the idea of ​​the supremacy of imperial power in the East, the power of kings and emperors in Europe is not that great.

What supported Napoleon III to become emperor was the massive military power in his hands, an advantage that no longer existed after the defeat of the French army.

If Napoleon III were allowed to become the emperor at this time, the French who launched the coup would turn their guns on him without hesitation.

What is an emperor? Sorry, France is now in the era of the National Defense Government headed by General Louis Jules Trochu.

There was no other way, the war with France had to continue. What Bismarck wanted was definitely not the surrender of a discredited Napoleon III, but the surrender of the entire French government, as well as a large amount of compensation and land, to declare that the entire German region was free from French control.

Only by defeating France severely and forcing the French to sign an agreement on compensation and cession of territory could the southern German states understand that the German region could only be controlled by the Germans, that Prussia was the chosen one of the German region, and was destined to unify the whole of Germany.

But the French also have their own pride. The French do not want to see the once powerful France being bullied by Prussia, a country that France looked down upon decades ago.

The French demanded that the new National Defense Government strengthen the defense of Paris and reorganize the National Defense Army to fight a decisive battle with the Prussians in Paris.

But for the current French National Defense Government, the will of the French people has become a tight ring on their heads, forcing them to reach a peace agreement with Germany more quickly. As we all know, launching revolutions and coups is a tradition of the French.

Although the current National Defense Government was established through a coup, this does not mean that the officials of the National Defense Government and the big bourgeoisie behind the National Defense Government are willing to hand over control of the government to others again.

Actively preparing for war can indeed conform to public opinion, but we must also take into account the current situation in France.

The previous war had already consumed a large amount of money, and coupled with the repeated defeats of the French troops on the front line, Napoleon III surrendered with tens of thousands of French troops.

If we now want to rely on the newly formed army to fight the Prussian army, wouldn’t that be repeating the mistakes of Napoleon III?
Rather than being an external enemy like Prussia, the Government of National Defense was more worried about the intense emotions of the French people in Paris and the growing revolutionary fever.

Faced with the choice of preserving France's territory and dignity and maintaining its own power, the French Defense Government chose the latter without any hesitation.

While they were calming the people and strengthening the defense of Paris, they were also conducting secret negotiations with Bismarck, the commander of the German army.

The diplomatic representative sent by the French government was named Fabre.

When Fabre secretly found Bismarck to request peace talks, Bismarck was planning an attack on Paris in his army.

As soon as he met Bismarck, Fabre talked incessantly about the French National Defense Government's condemnation and protest against Napoleon III, and thanked Prussia for helping France overthrow the rule of Napoleon III.

Bismarck had no expression on his face as he waited for Fabre's next point.

Fabre also knew that Bismarck could not be impressed by simple words, so he immediately expressed the sincerity of the French National Defense Government this time.

"Dear Prime Minister Bismarck, I am conveying to you the opinion of all the French people on behalf of our Government of National Defense.

We acknowledge France's defeat in this war and are willing to pay full compensation to mend our relations with Prussia.

But at the same time, my government will never accept the cession of any land, and neither will all French people.

If you wish, we can always sign a peace treaty to end this war that should never have happened."

What Fabre said, or the opinion of the current French National Defense Government, is that the compensation should be paid in full, but land cession will never be accepted.

Ceding land is a huge humiliation for any country and will also arouse domestic public indignation and a large amount of opposition.

Not to mention France, which was considered the European hegemon a year ago, even for some backward and corrupt countries, ceding land would cause public resentment.

If the French Defense Government wants to maintain its power, it must not give up on land.

But this was somewhat funny to Bismarck.

The financial concessions and territorial firmness expressed by the French government might impress others, but they would never impress Bismarck.

For the Iron Chancellor Bismarck, if a country expressed a tough attitude in front of him, the best way was to fight back with an even tougher attitude.

Second update, please read on!

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(End of this chapter)